When you start a new job, the first few weeks are crucial in ensuring you receive the right information and training to feel supported without feeling overwhelmed.
For these reasons, companies put into place an induction program to support every new employee.
We asked Sophie Dolphin – HR Business Partner UK, what new employees should expect when coming to work at Sims Metal.
Sophie explained that it all depends on what role you’re going into, the induction process will vary if you’re starting a role in operations, commercial or one of the shared service roles.
The induction process can take anywhere between a week to a month, depending on the role. If your new job is in operations, your safety induction may be longer. Sophie said “if we consider the induction as a period of development for our employees learning all they need about the role in order to work independently, the induction process should reflect the whole probation period, which is usually 6 months. During your probation period, you’ll have all the time you need to make sure you settle well in your role, you learn about the business and you are able to work independently.”
Part of the induction process is the same for everybody, especially core elements such as our Core Values and Purpose. You’ll get to know our culture, values and purpose, you’ll get to know our history, code of conduct and go through modern slavery and cyber security training; regardless of the role you have been hired for. Once this step is complete, you will go into the role more specifically.
Induction process for a commercial role at Sims Metal
Sophie explained that, for most commercial roles or shared service roles, your first day of work will be in the office. After you have received a warm welcome from the team, the first step will be to set all your devices up, such as laptop and phone.
Once we have ensured all your devices are fully working and you have access to all the resources you may need, it is time for some shadowing. Even though you may have some transferable skills, you will soon realise that most of what we do is bespoke to Sims Metal. For this reason, your Manager or a member of your team will need to walk you through all of our processes.
Induction process for an operational role at Sims Metal
Sophie went on to explain that everyone gets a safety induction of some degree at Sims Metal, but for operational roles, this will generally be much more in depth. You will spend a lot of time, at least the first month, doing safety inductions and training. The safety of our employees is our top priority, we believe that all injury incidents are preventable and we are committed to a goal of zero injuries at all of our sites.
If your role involves dealing with machinery, you will need to go through safe working procedure inductions as well as a licence training. Therefore, even though you already have a licence, you will need to go through an assessment and a refresher to make sure you are at Sims Metal’s operational and safety standards.
Why do you need to go through an induction process?
Of course, as Sophie mentioned, the induction process is necessary for you get to know the business, your role, the team and to make sure you work at the highest safety standards possible.
Sophie explained, the induction process is also a way to give the right first impression to our employees and give a good welcome to the businesses. “We try to put ourselves in new starters’ shoes and try to consider what they could be worried about, aiming to do our best to reassure them”.
We asked Sophie – “what advice would you give to someone who is starting working at Sims to make sure they get the most out of their induction process?”
“Don’t be afraid of asking questions, if you’re not sure, if you did not understand something or if something worries you. Ask to repeat, one, two, three times if necessary. There are so many people in the business that are willing to help, there will always be someone that can point you to the right direction. Simply talk to us.”
At Sims we ask for feedback from our employees to understand what they think about their induction process. We try to incorporate their feedback to continuously improve, to make our induction process as welcoming as possible, as well as the measurement of the success of the process. This is fundamental to ensuring both the new employees and the business benefit.
Thank you Sophie for your time and for all the precious information you provided.
To all new candidates, congratulations on your new role and good luck on this new chapter of your life. Welcome to the Sims family!
